RE: Mazda 6 MPS: Shed of the Week

[scottygib553]

Worth a punt at the price. The interior has mostly aged well too.

[ianwayne]

The killer of this car and its ilk is the VED regime. I have considered one but selling it again is an issue. Finding a decent one registered in very early 2006 makes a difference (£315 p.a.) It'll do for many of the 'cooking' Jags and Mercs too all except the rare / special models.

Any car with emissions over 225g /km and registered after 21/03/06 is £555 + per year from April 2019. (This one is a 2007). Scorn was given when I raised this issue on higher priced cars but at this price point it really is an issue. Over 2 years you'll pay in VED what the whole car cost. Before you even drive it!

Conversely, a high performance car registered after April 2017 and list price under £40k is £140 p.a. to the 2nd and subsequent owners, no matter what the emissions...

Edited by ianwayne on Friday 18th January 10:02

[Jex]

Mike335i said:

Had no idea these were so cheap, even with a bit of work needed it's a bargain. Interesting....

I had no idea they existed! Mazda's marketing obviously didn't reach me.

[BFleming]

greenarrow said:

So this is one of those cars that's made it to SOTY in 2019

We are only 2 weeks in to 2019 - bit early to call it Shed of the Year

I'm very much on the fence here. Costs £1200, but needs £2000 of work? I's prefer Shed's favourite Saab 9-5 Aero instead I think.

[molineux1980]

We've a later Mazda 6 Sport, 2.5 petrol, and its been rock solid, reliable, huge and its decent to drive.

However, I think it's only 170 bhp, and while its a good engine, i'd love it to have the power of an MPS, it would be great fun.

[Calamity James]

ToothbrushMan said:

Ultimately not as fast or as easy to tune but there you go.........

Actually super easy to drop a decent tune onto if you've got a few hundred quid.

I had a 3MPS and you just buy a piece of software called VersaTune and a cable for $550 and you can put an off the shelf map on there that ups the power to about 280-290. It was incredible.

Great shed IMO.

[a7x88]

Blackpuddin said:

And maybe the Mustang one?

The 2.3 ecoboost has a lot in common with this engine - the MZR is the "base" so to speak.

Obviously there is a lot updated on the ecoboost but the block is the same.

[a7x88]

Blackpuddin said:

You'd have to spend quite a lot more to get a better one though.

Not that much more sadly - I sold my fully kitted out one (looked standard from outside bar sitting a fraction lower) for £6.5k if I recall correctly. That was with a fully forged engine, new big turbo + all the extras that go with it, full suspension and mounts/braces all done, 6 month old tyres, a £1.5k spec clutch that had done around 3k miles..... bodywork was bang on for a 12 year old car too and it had very little rust. Was also low mileage and only 2 owners from new.

It sold to the main guy who tunes these in the UK (although I think he's no longer taking new customers). Ran it for a year or so before breaking it to build something else

[Limpet]

Always loved the stealth factor of these.

This could make a nice project for someone to tinker with.

[ajguk]

Had the Mazda3 MPS a few years ago. I got the actuator done and in the process found a load bodges involving sealant carried out by some mechanic before I bought it. Had to get a hire car back from the Lakes where I was getting the work done then go collect it a week later!

Bloody nightmare, plus £500+ tax. Still loved it.

[Reeves_and_Mortimer]

Looked at these a few times but the tax always put me off (I think many fell into the £550 pa bracket), depends on the year though as some are cheaper. Never seen one anywhere near this cheap before though! A very capable car for not much money.

[markberry85]

Had the same timing chain/actuator kit done on mine at about the same mileage. Kit was £400 as mentioned, another £450 on labour to fit. So car + repair costs = just over £2k? Bargain for someone willing to take the punt!

Faultlessly reliable over 60k miles for me and very understated. Loved it.

Mine sold at higher mileage than this, exact same spec and colour, less than 6 months ago for £3,500....as I said, bargain for this one!

The issue of the road tax of over £500 is largely insignificant compared to fuel costs - mine could do max 320 miles (all motorway cruise) on a 60 litre tank of super unleaded....ouch!!

[anonymous-user]

I was unfortunate enough to own one of these

Avoid

Main issues I had

Tramlining like no car i'd ever driven before
Awful heavy/bitey clutch
Chain Tensioners go, causing dreaded VVT rattle, expensive job (maybe cheaper these days from an indie)
Quality inside is just bad, plasticy leather
BOSE sound system was distinctly average
Very very dull to drive
Can't put back seats down

The singularly most annoying thing though was the gearing. It seems the turbo comes online about 3000 Rpm. Cruising at 80 in 6th and the car sits at 3100 (roughly) meaning you are down to about 22mpg.

At 70 it was fine and you got about 28/30

I ended up having to drive at 70 as was just wasting fuel otherwise

I bought it to be hopefully more "grown up" replacement for my Scooby, hated it and shifted it on after about 18 months when money allowed.

My missus doesn't know a lot about cars but she names all mine, she never bothered, said it was souless which was probably the best description

I replaced it with a E39 540 in the end which was more frugal and a much much better drive (appreciate they aren't around at shed money)

The Mazda was sold at 80k miles and felt knackered by that point, the BM at 145 and still had plenty of legs

[Reeves_and_Mortimer]

fathomfive said:

I thought so - doesn't it have fixed rear seats too as there is bracing behind them to stiffen the chassis?

Yeah I thought so too, never seen a hatch one and i've looked at/pondered them for quite a few years now. Maybe he was referring to Sheds in general although there's been a quite a few other saloons over the years?

[Omega1987]

I was really tempted by THEPS a couple of years ago but the road tax put me off, I just couldn't justify it which is a shame because I love sleepers.

[Sam1990]

The rear seats do actually fold down. There's a latch hidden out of sight for both sides. You still have the bracing to contend with but I did manage to squeeze a 2 metre long desk top in my old 6MPS much to the Ikea parking lot audience's disbelief

[Nerdherder]

I'd have gone for one instead of an Alfa if they were similar money here on the continent. Between 3 to 4 times as expensive..

[Gandahar]

This is what grinds my beef about current Governmental policy on cars.

Buy this and get hammered by VED road fund amount per year. My 2010 MX5 gets equally punished.

My 1.4 diesel Yaris does not, but looks like if I drive it anywhere London I get hit.


Make your mind up is petrol or diesel the favoured son nowadays?

I assume EV and the electricity grid will fall apart because the nuclear power plants are having a few issues, ie too expensive.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46900918

If the government wants us to move from diesel and petrol by 2040 then we need more generating stations, of all types. Currently we ain't getting them.


The funny thing is that as people move away from diesel globally it will get cheaper as refineries have to do something......


It's all a short sighted mess.

Which will only get worse.


I do realise I have gone off topic. The MPS Mazda's in general are a nice fast vehicle that nowadays is almost Q car. PH thumbs up.

[marshall100]

Like these, and that is cheap, however as the write up suggests, you might have more fun trying to stick £2 in the postmistress slot......

(fnar)

[dojo]

Best off changing the tyres out for 225/40/18 - but 500£ tax and the same in tyres a year with low 20s MPG make it expensive daily!

Fun car to own - I enjoyed mine very much